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Game Experience
Sitemap --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Game Experience --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- * See Also MMORGP_the_Game_Experience * See Also Better Combat --- --- --- --- --- What the Rapture MMORPG Game Would be Like to Play : * MMORPG Setting and Context * The World ** New Rapture City Center (a glimpse of what Rapture once was in its Golden Age) ** The Ruins FPS interface : * Alot more objects to manipulate * Deformable Scenery NPCs controlled by player * Task control Activities : * Communication * Fabrication (crafting) * Weapons Training * Tools * Slaughterfest Game Element One CRITICAL thing that needs to be enforced (and justified somehow) is that what one Player builds CANNOT be destroyed by another Player, nor objects stolen to fix THEIR projects. Entropy will slowly deteriorate things, but sabotage should not be allowed -- no Griefing, which has ruined so many MMORPG games before. Players Character - Player_Activities Roleplaying - Splicer_Play --- --- --- Experience what Ruined means : Player goes into a long-past flooded city section to salvage and possibly to survey the damage for reclamation. Flooded areas : * All the lights/utilities are out - darkness except for faint light from surviving windows. * Jammed doors, rubble blockage, warped floors, false ceilings/walls collapsed/eroded. * Any flood long ago swept out contents into a jumble with alot of the less durable objects broken or severely damaged or rotted. * Water damage more than some peeling wallpaper and corrosion. * Sealed sections behind safety bulkheads to protect from Sea Pressure - Water filled areas would need deep-sea diving equipment. * Fire damage, pilfering, neglect. --- --- --- CREATIVE PART OF MMORPG : Creating Assets for the World Helping other people create stuff - The Creation Community Story Telling Game Creation Tools ---- We will rebuild it : In-Game - You get a mailbox(Pneumo kiosk)/Phonebooth put in/restored nearby and that location might become a hangout for NPCs looking for work (that you might 'hire' for your projects) . Soon other players start adding/restoring more businesses in that area and it becomes a source of many convenient services to handle normal 'needs'. (NPC 'needs' don't have to be overly elaborate to be part of the game mechanism/simulation, but gives the NPCs reasons for being certain places and doing certain things when you are there to see them). --- Interlocking Game Economy - We no need no fake loot economy... Of course in Rapture you need to consider WHERE the hotdogs come from that this Hotdog stand will sell. That ties into other City systems (food supply) which may start out as rudimentary 'fish' (the SPAM/Beef-E ran out long ago) coming from the municipal dock, and some server run NPCs providing that basic raw material. But Players can create new sources (asset creation templates spell out the limits to all this) manufacturing/fabrication/production/conversions, and suddenly 'rats' are in high demand for a while (Old joke about NEVER EVER going into the back of a sausage factory...) until some other source of protein is available OR some clever fellow figures out how to make fish taste like hotdog meat. ' Rebuilding is the Goal - New Rapture : ' The City will be 'organically' rebuilt (and used) by the Players who extend their own infrastructure (often cooperatively) via Tasks/Mission they can originate or contract for (and will apply their own controlled resources to). Thus, the Game World would grow as a result of Players actions -- something few MMORPGs have accomplished to any extent. Interlocking 'required' parts of the economy/institutions grow up with them as things in New Rapture get put back together. It will be important that critical basic resources be made available from the gamestart by the (default) Company run 'core' economy, so that lack of Player interest does not wreck the whole symbiotic system. Again this system does NOT have to be horribly complicated (it is based largely on those 'needs' of the people(NPCs) 'living' in the City). --- --- --- Fallen is Babylon, and it cant get up !! '''... One advantage we have in this genre is that the 'people' can always fall back on very minimal 'needs' material-wise and social-wise -- as that's what they did for so many years as Splicers since Rapture fell apart (we don't have to pretend to maintain the complex institutions of a medieval city -- as you might in any semi-realistic simulation of so many MMORPG games). WE CAN fall back on scrounging and squatting in wreckage if we choose (or may need to if players (for a while) cannot figure out what needs to get done on the road back to civilized living --- some players might even CHOOSE to do so). --- --- --- '''WE Need To Lower The Body Count : The Genocide I've perpetrated in some MMORPGs is quite strangefor a human being. When the gamemakers cannot provide decent opponents having plausible tactics and strategy, they simply use numbers which you shoot down as if you were in a shooting gallery. I think (seriously) that I killed/slaughtered more Orcs in Middle Earth than were seen in all the LotR movies put together (including the Hobbit Trilogy) . That's not including the Continents of wildlife I exterminated along the way. You could build entire large islands using the corpses/bones of all I killed. Such body counts would be shocking in the real world, and the Player irreparably damaged mentally. SO lets try to fix that in the MMORPG . --- --- --- What would this Bioshock Rapture Rising (or Reborn) be like to play ? The setting would be after Dr Tenenbaum found a cure for the ADAM's effects and has returned to save the people her earlier work had so horribly affected. This would be Post-Lamb(BS2), Post-Minerva's Den, and with Rapture left to survive however as it might. It probably would be fairly soon after the time of BS2 because with little organized maintenance, the city is falling apart all the faster. Tenenbaum cannot do it alone and somehow starts rehabilitating some of the less insane Splicers, and with their help expanded that project to bring more and more people back towards sanity. Those people want to live as normal human beings and want The City rebuilt. YOU are one of these 'cured' Splicers (one character per Server World). --- You would start by getting some kind of tutorial sequence to walk you thru the basic controls and interactions with NPCs and other Players, and fill you in with the plot-line. That would take place first in the Rehabilitation Ward and then in a largely safe part of New Rapture (where civilization has partly been restored). Activities ''': * Basic maintenance actions would demonstrate the repair and rebuilding game activities * Control of your 'Team' - your first personally controlled ex-Splicers - who will eventually do alot of the more boring grunt work for you (you would get a temporary assistant, as you will have to '''earn your own NPC 'Team' members by playing and with effort).. * Interplayer communications methods (talking/mail/Pneumo/phonecalls/etc..) and vending (and other) machines would be demonstrated. * There will be Justifications for Players not being able to do 'bad' things (PvP, stealing, sabotage, Griefing of other players). They would be explained (something about 'conditioning' that is part of Tenenbaum's 'cure' (???)). * The Money System would be explained --- the 'Rappy' (New Rapture Dollar) which is based on a basic unit of work done - probably a man-hour of unskilled work. * You may still have some of the Plasmid abilities/Tonic skills if the 'cure' doesn't destroy them -- though it may nullify them (this is still an open design issue -- It has yet to be decided if you can regain them ). * New abilities -- via a character skill advancement mechanism for your Avatar AND for your 'Team' members). * ADAM has been outlawed (for Splicing) but is now converted to anti-ADAM and is used by other technologies. * Skills from all those people 'who went before' can be extracted from what ADAM is found (?). * The Little Sister program has been shut down, but they continue to wander other parts of Rapture. After that there would be a large selection of 'easy' Quest/Missions to expose you to further aspects of the game and the Game World : * Standard 'go there' Missions that familiarize you with the City's Core and the various known areas. * Maintaining your 'Team' with basic needs (food/shelter/hygiene/work/etc..) * Going into a 'wild' part of the city to recover usable materials/items (salvage Missions). * How to rescue Splicers and take them back for Tenenbaum's treatment (a fundamental Duty for all Ex-Splicers). * The brownie point systems of building Reputation and Prestige (and what those are good for). * Recruiting more personnel for your 'Team', skills for them, and acquiring tools to use for various projects. * Going 'outside' to survey and do repairs for flooded/damaged parts of the city (to bring it back into a habitable/stable state). * Interactions with the Big Daddy Maintenance Units (who are largely the reason that Rapture isn't yet a "dark cold water-filled tomb"). * Municipal Work Projects to restore/expand production of food and other critical resources for the growing population ("those who don't work don't eat"). * Maintenance of the 'Core' safe part of the City - payments for such service will go toward increasing your resources. * The hidden world of the Utility systems and access passages (and how to fix things that break frequently). * Interface for assigning Tasks/Projects for your 'Team' of ex-splicers to carry out while you are offline. * Repairs to vending/u-make-it/health/communications machines (TVs, Phones, Radios, Junction boxes) and how to unlock all those Closed-off-doors (....lots of Mini-Games). * Learning how to access and use submarines/diving suits/bathyspheres/trains/trolleys/trams/whatever. * Setting up (restoring) a 'Store'/'Shop' to sell things you acquire (or eventually manufacture). With personalized business site details/improvements to be incrementally added as you can afford them. Learn who to deal with to get 'stock' and skills for services. "Simple manufacturing for Dummies" - formulas and processes to make things from other things. * Use of Want Ads in the newspapers/bulletins (filling the 'auction house' game role). Auction House equivalents... * Safety systems and how to keep them from killing you (also locks and lockers - where to stash stuff you cant possibly carry all at once) * The Amusing Rumor system - create a rumor via a NPC and see what happens (similarly - a graffiti system) * Hauling garbage, not just a job, but a necessity (similarly, keeping those restrooms working). There will be alot of work clearing debris and wreckage and general cleanup to repair your new home. * That 'Thinking Machine' (RODIN - The Thinker) - what it can do and what we DON'T want it doing. --- Later you can take on bigger projects of restoring a wrecked/ruined part of the City (of varying sizes ex- a building) , which has many sub-projects within it (many improvements being optional and/or up to the player how far to improve): * Finding/Claiming/Keeping/Transferring the section officially as 'your' project (and collaborating with others to do so). * Assessing the needed sub-project Tasks that will be needed to make it viable and gathering/arranging for the resources/manpower/skills needed. * Using NPC 'Team' who find things for you (I'll have my guy will call your guy...) - hiring 'crews'. * Breaking into blocked/damaged/locked doorways and halls. * Sealing the section from the ocean may need to be done and repairing the airlocks (and probably chasing out any sealife). Broken windows may have to be replaced or plated over which takes alot of outside work in Diving Suits. * Pumping out the area and repairing any leaks (fixing and maintaining all the pipes) and getting the machinery in working order that will keep it that way -- where does all that water go??. * Hauling out any wreckage cluttering the area (much is reusable and who knows what might be buried therein) and cleaning everything up sufficiently to get rid of health hazards. * Restoring utilities (lighting/power/air/heating) back thru the grid (the continuity of connections which have to be made to work first) * Repairs, lots of repairs and replacement parts/systems. * Making a 'base of operations' for your growing Team and where you can stash your 'stuff' securely. * Improving the environment further beyond basics (civilization factor) - convenience, safety, aesthetics. * Connections to the rest of civilization - transport and accessibility and communications * Beating the place back into a resemblance of when it was originally built (definitely fix all those holes in the walls and getting rid of that moldy wall paper) * Attracting population to be residents and to use services and putting some to work maintaining their new home. - Accounting for landlords. * Setting up small manufacture to improve everyone's standard of living (and to make money to use for further projects and to get those people employed) Whole tiers of additional activities open for Player... * Upscale (Quality) - does it pay ? --- --- --- Other possible quests/missions/activities are : - Explorations seeking resources (mines, supply stockpiles, industry, farms, ocean floor) and relinking them to the city * Finding pockets of Splicers to 'save' (tripwires,traps,nets and chloroform) * Meeting and 'handling' unfriendly groups of Splicers (with 'Bosses') who need to be kept away from the growing normalcy. * Dealing with Surface 'outsiders' who threaten Rapture's existence (KGB/CIA/Nazis/IRS/etc...) * Restoration of 'The City' by assisting in (long) prestige projects --things that prove that Rapture is 'rising out of the muck' ... City Hall, the Great Library, Kashmir's Monument, the Municipal Stadium, sections of the Atlantic Express, The Zoo and The Museum, those outside Neon Signs that once worked... * Reestablishing the big manufacturing and services needed to maintain/grow the city. * Assisting other Players in getting the things THEY need done, both mundane and esoteric (do/assist in their sub-sub-missions) * Player organized activities (and things like Newspapers that help build 'community') * Commercial interactions where Players set goals that drive alot of other Player's Missions, which also make further resources available to the masses (and how to grow them bigger and bigger). * Sightseeing to go see for yourself what other Players have achieved/found. * Hunting (for something other than fish to eat....) * Covert interactions with Smugglers to get 'stuff' (some things you just cannot get otherwise) * Hunting for more SeaSlugs (Anti-ADAM for the Cure doesn't come out of thin air after all) * Visitations to key city locations (Minerva, Hephaestus, the Ryan Shrine,...) and some critical mission to save Rapture (yet again). * Specialty skills development (long training) to do things like 'Rewiring Splicers brains for fun and profit' * City Hall Missions (some politics - probably mostly 'suggestion boxes' for the Council to contemplate..) * Hired Gun for other peoples 'unsafe' Missions and Projects. * Probably will have some 'Tour all the X' type adventures. * There is always 'slumming' in the 'wild' areas. You never know what you might run into. * Clothing (You and your 'Team') and Decoration (of your 'base') and the hunt for that upscale apartment. * Catching all those $%^&*% butterflies that keep clogging the fan systems * Treasure Hunting - all those wrecks and parts of the city Lamb The Insane destroyed. * The usual Fetch ABC/See the man X/Deliver Y/Rescue Z type Missions -- EXCEPT with enough detail and variations so you don't do the same thing 100000 other Players already did before you. * Posse, against the criminal element (an City authorized situation where the 'guns come out' in the city). - Little Sisters and Rogue Big Daddies are still said to roam the lower levels... * Lets tear down that @#$%^& Lighthouse that tells everyone where Rapture is... * Something to do with Desks and Filing Cabinets. There certainly were enough of them in BS1 BS2.. (even in Ryan's World you couldn't get away from tons of paperwork) * All those fancy machines that nobody knows how to use anymore - get them useful once more. * Missing loved ones, the (hazardous) search for XYZ and closure for those left alive (ghost hunting?). * Farming in all those tunnels under the city (and who's bright idea was it to inject cows with ADAM??) * Historian's quest for all those recordings people just left lying about, and notes and records from Rapture's past ("Those who don't know the past, are doomed to ... yada yada ...") --- Endgame? Does there need to be an endgame? If Rapture is as big as it should be (actually bigger than the cityscape you see out the windows in BS1 BS2) there is always more to do (and entropy keeps trying to tear it down). With some ex-Splicers (Players) crawling back into their insanity to get away from it all, there are always new responsibilities to keep Rapture alive by those who are left. EXAMPLE MISSIONS : Example Player Missions: * Eliminate/Capture the Rogue Big Daddy/Big Sister who has been terrorizing an area, * Little Sister Rescue. Little Sister reported spotted at X - go and rescue - Any remaining Lil' Sisters are to be emancipated. * Demolition Job for the City - unstable buildings can collapse and damage other parts of the city. You tear out an unstable section to remove the threat. * Repair the Leak/Failsafe door - go fix a reported failure - bonus for outside 'sea' work * Retrieve the Body - Citizen died in the 'wild' and should be brought back ('Death Insurance' pays for it) * Find the critical part/component - my X broke down and things are backing up - go get some part Y so that it can be fixed * Information Retrieval - go to a remote location to find needed blueprints for a critical system * Set up a security checkpoint (with the supplied security apparatus) - another mini-game ? * Find and follow or apprehend the 'person of interest' (Bounty paid) - clues/guidance from central control * 'Monster' in the sewer (in the nice safe section of the city) - investigate and eliminate * Radio Msg - "You can't guess what I just found - come here and bring a wheel barrow" (based on some kind of 'buddy' relation with an NPC of your acquaintance (probably one you did a quest for before). * Investigate the shipwreck(s) for resources * "X is sick can you fill in for him on our little mission" - (NPC group you join to do some activity, usually with some twist) * Trailblaze a path thru to a cutoff part of the City (possibly repair airlock/docking port to allow access) * Explore and Survey this tunnel - all records were lost and we don't know where it goes... * Treasure Maps - some ex-Splicers remember things they saw in their previous (insane) life that might be VERY valuable today, but many citizens aren't adventurous enough to go get it themselves. Likely there will be some Player Missions to find these possible goodies. Getting to it may be not easy, taking stuff away may be even less easy. * Scout a Splicer Camp - we (city authorities) like to know what they are up to * Help Citizen X by finding their lost Cat (reward..) * Escort a repair party into a Splicer controlled/interdicted area * Fix my Neon sign - its outside in the water... * Move this pile of stuff from X to Y (may be clearance job or supply run for construction or someone moving apartments). * Be a 'Buddy to a Big Daddy' - they don't have much of a life and sometimes can use a little vacation * Section 8 squad - someone needs a little extra 'Rehabilitation'. Go get them (Quietly) and bring them to The Clinic for a 'tune-up'. * Odd dream you have (fantasy setting in a instance bubble created by Template scripts) that you have to fight your way back to reality from (you are an ex-Splicer, these things happen). --- --- --- MMORPG details NPC 'AI' -- Appearance of Intelligence ALL NPCs are active (they don't stand around like mannequin or follow fixed patrol paths like in most MMORPGs) and have at least simple 'live' to drive logical behavior - normal metabolism cycles/schedules (eating, sleeping, waking), Use of consume goods, can run shops, can work for players. They would react appropriately to numerous possible situations and have small activities so they appear to be doing appropriate things wherever they are. (instead of standing around). * In crowded 'safe' city areas (well lit places) there would be alot of hustle/bustle of 'normal' looking NPCs (plus whatever player characters are there). Other behavior patterns would be used in abnormal situations (ie - Splicer in the City street -- a threat is present - run away OR a fire has broken out and NPCs try to put it out or get out of the way and watch, etc...) * Talk bubbles of casual conversation (ie- the GTAGrand Theft Auto multiple figures walking about with their random one-liners - can be amusing (or not), or actually relevant to a current situation -- "lets get the hell out of here" or "did you hear about the Splicer in the Museum the other day..." or "Ack, the price of shotgun ammo has doubled again" ) There can be multitudes of gestures/animations used for all activities and NPC interactions (ie- if you walk into someone there is stumbling/tripping/falling down/bouncing off/dropping things). They should be used to enhance the players perceptions of a working community. NPC to NPC speech/gesture interactions should be seen from a distance (doesn't have to be overly detailed) and don't really have to say much. Until the player gets closer they don't have to have much coordination. (unless they are shouting). GTA had alot of smalltalk that was irrelevant to the game but added activity (appeared less lifeless than most games) and amusement. * Appropriate sound effects for actions should be played (standard scripted sequences made up of animations and carefully timed sounds and results imparted on involved objects). Voice calls and short phrases, but will have to use text for any detailed conversations (just cant record all of them and stringing a dictionary of 'canned' words together always sound awful and real speech synthesis has too few voices/no accents/etc...) * Vehicles (where appropriate) moving with passengers/cargo loads (NPCs actually go 'home' so this would be city NPCs using the available transports, the same way the players 'team' NPCs get around separately from the player). * NPCs activities of all kinds --- doing work, traveling to/from work, in residence, looking for work, misc entertainment and casual interaction or lazing around/loitering, walking in the park. Interactions between NPCs (buying/selling/queueing in lines/avoiding collisions/having arguments/bumming smokes/whatever else you can think of...). NPCs would make appropriate reactions (ie- to avoid hazards, go into a shop selling a 'needed' item, etc..). * There should be enough behavior detail that it is actually interesting to follow NPCs around just to see what they do. The 'Player Created Asset' system (again) would be instrumental in making this as varied as possible. * Sealife - various behaviors, flocking/schooling behaviors of fish (as we've seen) With players now being frequently 'Outside' in many more places and less restricted, will see more varying (less choreographed behaviors - more free swimming through/past obstacles). An Ecosystem with appropriate mixes of sealife (including predators chasing prey). Templates and variations (combinatorics) to cover all that outside space (with much less development work) * Wildlife (non-humans) indoors, various vermin and animals (including pets) have simpler behaviors (than humans) but are programmed the same way - reacting to situations, going about a 'life'(even simple is a major improvement). Fills in the corners with little details. * Bots and other machines with triggered behaviors. They react to situations and actions made upon them. Rapture's utility systems (electrical/water/air/...) are made up of system parts that form continuous networks that interact -- you cut power at one point and further along the line the power goes dead - the wire system is made up of objects buried behind the inner walls (that the player often needs to repair). You shut a machine off and whatever it was doing stops. Likewise you activate a machine or work some controls it will respond appropriately (...need at least one crane to load fish - that works...) Players like playing with things just to see what they do, so much the better if it actually does something useful to them in the game. --- --- --- NPCs Initiating Dialog : Instead of annoying popups/forced unsolicited interruptions, you could have the NPCs (walk up and) gesture (some obvious/unsubtle signal to indicate magnitude/importance), and let the Player respond if they want. Of course if its important, and you ignore it, they might give up and you will miss out on something interesting. Being unsocial (too often) might be its own message, and depending on who is requesting to communicate (and what role/social status/rank the Player and the NPC has), and what the current situations is can affect it all. The situation would guide the NPC's response to your non-response - ie- urgent then the NPC retries or escalates (or rushes off to give that 'sweet' Quest/Mission to some other Player ). Important things likewise might be being 'hailed' from a greater distance (versus just wanting to gossip about the weather ...) Public announcements and such would probably warn the Player when interesting things were happening (Players in lesser games tend to get their attention fixed on their mundane activities - ie 'Bank' and 'Inventory' sorting - almost as much at people 'Texting' today). Various ways would exist for NPCs to 'escalate' their signals. --- --- --- Combat (FPS action in the game). * The rapid/abrupt movements of combat, hiding behind cover, coordinating between 'team' (Splicers do likewise) * Combat usually takes place out in remote areas where there wont be large crowds or large numbers of players. * Have more varied combat situations, terrain cover, more active enemies (hopefully with better tactics). * More combat goals rather than just 'kill the murderous mutants' - players now trying to capture Splicers. Expect more 'running away', where you now have to pursue and likely have to react to unexpected things you blunder into. * Enemies do more than 'scream and attack' (there is such a thing as fleeing the enemy, running for reinforcements). * Now with object collision, movement gets blocked by friend and foe. Usually then there is also 'frontage' as part of combat where you get bonus's for attacks on rear and sides (where the enemy isn't as likely to be able to avoid/counter an attack). * With a 'team' of NPCs assisting you, you now can do coordinated attacks (and the enemy AI should do likewise, and your friendly's AI should try hard not to do stupid things). * I could see an XCOM like (overview) interface to pre-issue orders at least for the start positioning of engagements. * With a more detailed world (more interactive objects) there is more potential for tactics making use of the terrain The 'Wild' areas have that same dark/damaged/threatening settings which Splicers inhabit much as we saw in BS1/BS2, with Splicers lurking in shadows and other appropriate behaviors (before they see the player and then either fight or flee or freeze). Even in the 'safe' city the lights may (should) be turned down for a 'night cycle' so that there are dark areas and potential for skulking in shadows and mostly deserted streets and closed shops. Some areas 'never' sleep (nightlife). With darkness, things behave differently. --- --- --- Arbitration of simultaneous action effects - logically (ex- NPC is under a leak getting wet when someone tries to set them on fire - fire put out by water) Much of this is physical effects and having the animations that can handle combinations of effects. (ex - On fire and blowing up at the same time). AI will make use of these countering effects (we saw splicers move to water when we set them on fire in BS1/BS2, so add alot more such in this game.) Inanimate objects have 'physical'/'physics' behaviors that make them behave correctly when they are acted upon by animate objects. They fall and bounce and crush things they fall on, etc.. The physics don't have to be perfect simulations (that can actually take ALOT of computer processing to do correctly), but show the properties of working more like real objects. (Have NPCs make use of these effects - AI uses such in its 'solutions'). Template and script driven modular system - behavior programming (NPCs inherit behaviors using role templates) Complexity is reduced by script reuse with alot of similar actions/reactions shared by many actors. Things that are common sense are shared by all 'intelligent' objects (just that they make pick differently what to do for a particular situation). AI Templates created via 'Player Created Assets' allow great expansion of the behaviors available in the game (the more alternatives and variations the less repetitive the NPCs seem). New gestures and emotes can be substituted (if better), or added as more alternatives. Some behaviors are not actually significant to achieving a goal for a NPC, but are their to add to the players experience. Those small scenes we walked into with Splicers talking in BS1/BS2 did that and it would be good to have MANY more of them and have an AI that figures out which ones to use when appropriate. The book has splicers sounding alot more deranged than the few things we heard/saw in the game and it requires good scripted 'AI' to make it convincing. --- --- --- Team Member Interactions: Having a 'team' of NPCs to assist you requires a communicated order system (its very difficult to make AIs act fully competently in situations and cues from players can go a long way to assist in coordinated actions). Some systems I've seen in recent games were quite feeble and had helper NPCs doing absurd things that made them more a liability than any 'help'. Interface types : * Click and point targeting (probably a over-the-shoulder view) with good default 'implied' orders to minimize 'menu selecting' which can make fast combat deathly tedious or even unworkable -- players need to be able to issue 'snap' orders and let the NPCs do their thing. - Potential for voice recognition interface (single word commands usually have fairly accurate input quality) and limited command set allows successful training adaption (conventional menu/text inputs also available for flexibility) * Some commands would be to entire 'team' like 'Retreat' or 'Attack' or 'Now'. NPCs will have a good pathfinding ability so the players wont have to guide them every inch of the way. This include getting around obstacles and expanded movement types like climbing. The player may tell his 'team' members to take up specific positions (wait for signal) for some situations ahead of time (ie- combat ambush or in a salvage using explosives moving team members a safe distance). Bots would only have simple commands (since they aren't supposed to have the intelligence of NPCs) Intelligent 'AI' NPCs should be able to override/ignore orders when they decide that the result would be bad (self preservation - the NPCs are supposed to be human simulations...) --- --- --- Dialog Tree - Routine Player interactions with NPCs (buying/selling/queries/job offers/jobs wanted) Dialog Tree mechanism for standard menu type interchanges between player and an NPC * A simple 'dialog tree is : The NPC asks a question, The Player is offered Yes/No as responses and depending on the one the player picks (a branch happens) 'Yes' it does one set of things -or- 'No' it then does a different set of things. A tree can be a whole series of additional 'questions' and branches. * Decision Logic can be built into the Dialog tree for quite specialized/specific interactions where IF-THEN logic shifts available 'branch' options - situation factors enable branch options (ie- closing time, shop is out of item X, city emergency). A branch can have many more than 2 possible options. And there can be many branches. * History based variations - Player is a daily customer gets different options (often shortcutting longer selection trees or putting previous selections at the top etc..) A player the NPC saw before might be addressed by name, etc... * The dialog tree can program appropriate actions/animations/talking(with proper timing delays) to be done by the NPC (can act out proper reactions to players answers) Mechanism like this was in Neverwinter Nights Server & Tools system. * The NPCs system can have extensive canned tree logic to cover variety of common behavior (like shop-keepers) Templates for many standard responses can speed up creation of dialog trees - they play standard animations any human figure can perform - ex- sit down, point at object,...). Players can clone from a selection of dialog tree 'outlines' and just fill in the text specifics. * Local situation information (parameters/inserts - player name, time of day, shop name, available products, street shop is on) can be auto-inserted into text responses (to make them feel much more interactive/customized). * Dialog trees used for quests can automatically insert log entries into the players Quest Log. * Many/most NPCs have 'their own story' (some more extensive than others) that can be inserted as 'small talk' - reminiscences of their past life and their current position in Rapture. A Dialog mechanism on the client should do preloading of assets from disk (sound effects/animations) to minimize hesitation when rendering/playing (its a predefined set that may be soon needed, so they can be loaded well ahead of time when the dialog is initiated). NPC interactions with players include manipulations of props/objects in the situation (ie- ringing up purchase on cash register, handing over product to buyer, walking over and pointing out objects (stage direction type scripting is alot simpler for non-programmers to make work) --- --- --- Social interactions Walking in the streets - collision detection done (I dislike having objects walk thru each other, unless they are ghosts). NPCs will avoid each other and most places have a 'keep right rule' (except on the UK servers). NPCs will attempt to not be rundown by vehicles (largely by staying out of the track areas, but moving out of way when needed). NPC shop vendor as mentioned above ^^^ (Dialog Trees, etc..) and some shortcut 'simple' interfaces like Display Cases to select purchase items and Priceboards (that do the same thing and offer quickly perused lists of items to buy or sell). Effects of players 'prestige' -- difference responses from some NPCs to show deference or recognition of the players benefiting the community. There would likely also be a advancement 'ramp' for prestige that makes additional things in the game accessible -- city resources (sub rides/access to areas/bureaucrats that aren't as slow), different missions (built reputation), more/better 'team' members willing to join you, NPCs to help you, etc... Prestige advancement should have many avenues (I get sick of quest trees and linear missions) High Mucky-mucks (NPCs) -- ? are there any in the New Rapture that you can 'associate' with as part of your higher prestige levels (if you reach them)?? If there is a macro plot in the game these would likely be the channel. ie - Plot Explanations from Tenenbaum about coming back and starting this goal of freeing all the Splicers from the effects of her work, Missions of significance to the survival of Rapture, etc... There can be choreographed scenes that NPCs (citizens or Splicers) act out so the player can watch (example was the Ghosts in BS1) - they are combinations of actions/animations/gestures/sounds/talk that are appropriate to a current situation. Of course at any time the situation can suddenly change drastically so all such choreographed sequences should have abort recovery and good transitions into various other behaviors. (Need I say - 'Player Created Assets ' again?? An MMORPG should not be "pretty terrain that otherwise is a Ghosttown devoid of interest" - heh, the Ghost example above at least could make it a proper Ghosttown via a plethora of player created 'ghost stories' everywhere.) Server controlled NPCs give missions/quests to players (enabled depending on players profession/skills/prestige) Hints/Rumors of goings on in the city or neighborhood can be given (or queried by players) The 'small talk of NPCs shifts depending on the city state (ie- during a brownout, that's what the NPCs talk about while they try to find lights) Attempts should be made for some consistency across all NPCs for at least basic interactions (their roles in society) and customizations (largely template driven with tweaked data variations). That's reuse of common scripts (part of this system that saves on development time). --- --- --- 'Programming' There can be alot of behavior variations based on NPC 'personal details' - attitudes, inclinations, tendencies, behavioral approaches that vary alot between NPCs (ie- a fawning/brusque shopkeeper...) With a proper Template system, these can be activated via simple control options - mode switches, numeric scale inputs that a non-programmer could easily select/adjust (or server could randomize). The 'programmer' types would build their behavior scripts to offer these control options (parameters) which then when set would shift the instanced NPC characters behavior accordingly. Many basic 'personality' factors are held in common by most humans, so once a sufficient set of template options is available any NPC could make use of them (reuse). Some attributes (ex- risktaking vs cautious) are a specified via a numeric scale which if set to one extreme or the other cause the NPC to take extreme actions. While a setting in the middle has to be some compromise (non-extreme course of action). Such general attribute settings would 'color' all sorts of specific behaviors, reactions and roles. In combat a character acting high-risktaking would play offensively instead of defensively, in an economic situation the character would speculate. In a repair job the character might take the risk of trying to fix something when they don't have the skill that would make it more probable to succeed. The clever bit of the 'AI' script programming is handling all the conflicting selections and complications (where the mix of two selected attributes causes a third set of result). A attribute "lawful vs unlawful" mixed with a "risktaking vs cautious" attribute together does not create a linear combination, but more likely a matrix. You would think that someone 'cautious' would not be 'unlawful' but you can have a 'cautious criminal' (like an embezzler), versus a 'risktaker' + 'Unlawful' who might be a flashy gangster who robs banks in daylight and shoots his way out and flaunts the money he steals. Anyway, these kinds of things can get complicated (and we are only delving a bit further into realism) so it often is simpler to create a 'special template' for a particular character pattern and strongly set the actions and reactions they will chose to make in their game world behaviors. Those options themselves are controls to more primitive 'Templates' of behavior (like 'direct action' vs 'indirect action' or 'waiting for reinforcements' vs 'charging in', etc..) that control specific situational responses. Being a 'special template' anything that is expected to conflict or be complicated can have very precise logic written to override and handle the 'exception' situation correctly. Of course this should only be taken as far as needed and not be so subtle that the players cant tell the difference (moderation of detail level ...). The 'art' of creating personality (for players to create) is to adjust and balance all the different 'personality' factors a NPC could be defined with, to act correctly specific to the flavor the player wants. That combination of settings then can become a Template to create other similar characters spread around the world (with minor variations and info applied). The randomization itself would be controlled by limit settings set by the player as to how much variation is allowed before the character isn't 'right' any more. (it does no good for an 'embezzler' to have too high a 'risktaking' attribute). Ordinary NPCs can be largely '2 dimensional' (still a vast improvement over the '1 dimensional' characters in most MMORPGs). Even just their group interactions will make them interesting. Some can have more detail and stand out and others you just want to get on with buying stuff from them, without always hearing their life stories. Alot of this is low level scripting work that can get fairly complex and can be extensive (awful lot of proper reactions for things that go on in the world), and would be left to qualified players for improving (reprogramming) the low level 'Templates'. Other creator players then would have 'high-level' additional/improved options to assemble/parameterize/recombine, thus allowing non-programmer players to create additions/variations/improvements for the game. There is always cosmetic details that take NO programming/scripting at all, which are needed to fill in ALL the remaining appropriate details that make the NPCs appear right. The low level programmer includes a "fill_in_insult" placeholder that the Final Detailer would supply - "YOU FARGING BASTAGE, SO'S YOUR MOTHER!!!" (or even a list of similar insults to randomly cycle). There would be dozens of such text 'fill_ins' and even THESE could be ganged together as reusable sets ('templates') -- like a 'tough_guy_talk' set that can be dropped in with one control setting into any character... --- --- --- NPC Behavior Detail : ''' Certain characters in the game (usually special 'bosses') will take ALOT more to make them act right. Imagine what specific attributes you would have to set for a 'Sander Cohen' character : * Obviously the custom appearance (clothing/face/body), but also fairly unique animations (think Cohen's 'flourishes') * His Plasmid uses (Houdini skills) obviously would be template driven (but maybe tuned to exaggerate them further) * A coordinated set of preferred behaviors and reactions (existing standard templates for basics and further customizations for aberrations) - ie- an attack where He might run away but then drop a big flashy bomb on you (once). * Interactions with specific 'Cohen' props and (for Cohen) his 'batty cave'... (some of those BS1 props were animated and they have their own 'programmed' behaviors -- now new ones possibly ALOT more detailed than we saw in BS1) * All his very specific twisted sayings and quips referring to his 'art' (some unique sound bytes - like a 'laugh' that would be used repeatedly). If the 'creators' want to go all out a bunch of 'speech recordings can be made with a good voice actor. * His insanity played out in a long sequence of 'special' dealings with the player. When at some unfortunate 'ordinary' NPC (like on on your 'team' or some incidental NPC as a 'vignette') he might point and shout 'Kill Him' to his splicer minions. * Key Bosses aren't a one-shot encounter but are meant to have repeated incidents with a player (like a sub plot). * 'Bosses' often control 'minions' (other NPCs) and THAT gets into a whole other area of 'AI' - coordinating actions between a group of NPCs (which actually would share ALOT of templates and programming with the players 'team' feature). The Minions are basically 'slaved' to the boss and carry out fairly simple commands (with their own 'personality). * Over-control of Cohen would be done via the Quest system that has alot of persistent logic/state scripting capabilities (yet more 'AI' there) to handle changes in Cohen's behavior in 'Phases' as your relationship with this unique character progresses (as you meet him again and again as the game goes on). * Cohen could have Another set of 'missions' for you to carry out like in BS1 * Just alot of optional interactions for you with secondary minion characters (arena of death scenario). * More of his insane monumental playacting/posturings. * Maybe he just wants to trade something that the 'City' has and YOU get to go take his negotiations back to the 'city council' for his 'Big Return'. * All stuff for the Quest system to coordinate. * All of the above will likely require collaboration between all levels of the scripting/detailing skills (including Cohen's 'props' which are not AI exactly but related details). Other 'bosses' might be more generic and many similar cloned ones exist in different places (and CAN be killed, but replaced by another similar one somewhere/sometime later). They aren't as specific as a 'Sander Cohen' but would take similar types of settings/details. Imagine what other 'special bosses' you might come up with - this system is designed to allow you to actually create them for the game yourself (or in collaboration). Over time players would create many of them (joining any company created ones) and all the other players would get the fun of playing against them. --- --- --- '''AI Optimizations: Another advanced feature (starting to get too many of these?) would be to offload some AI processing to the players client machines -- in particular the players 'Team' of NPCs who are in the immediate area (trying to run NPCs elsewhere in the city would require information feeds about those locations that are significant network loads). Combat in particular is a (more complex) rapid response part of the game and may be helped by faster AI being run partially on the players client machine. The opportunity for cheating would be much less (the issue of hacking the client etc...) as most of the information is already being shown to the player and things like AimBots already exist anyway and would be protected by existing countermeasures). The server will still be the 'authority' that validates actions, but the AI that figures out what the bunch of NPCs should be intelligently doing (especially with more complicated terrain and individual tactics) can take a surprising amount of CPU processing that would be good to offload from the servers. With all this talk of 'cloud' computing, I suppose having part of the game system 'farm out' AI to players machines left on when NOT playing would be a way to expand the AI processing capabilities. Proper processing security would be part of the system as well as mechanisms to judge reliability (good consistent network connections are crucial). Compensation like a discount on the monthly or some in-game rewards would probably be needed as an inducement. Such a system would of course have to fallback to the servers only if players don't cooperate. When no player is there (close enough) to see, NPCs still carry out the effects of their proper behaviors (actions which effect the game world and other NPCs and players). They don't have to act out the visual motions, but the decisions and proper results will be enacted. The simulation goes on doing the economy and keeping all the objects in their right places as the world moves forward. If the player walks in, all the right things will be in the right place and doing the right actions. There can be optimizations to 'pro-rate' what happens outside of player's seeing. (ie- an NPC with a job of filling bottles with Nico-Cola by hand will have its script adjust the game world in interval jumps (crate batches of 12 bottles) when no player is present to see, but instantly switch back to one bottle at a time when a player can see the activity). Servers thus do less work (saving it for the more demanding processing of details near players) while still preserving a proper simulation. Server processing load may not be excessive for this 'simulated AI' as the scripts wait alot for player actions/responses, and the logic (once decisions are calculated) are largely 'canned' sequences that take a while to play out. The AI decision process though WILL require more Server processing when things in the world change around an NPC -- most of all when a player is there to see. Elsewhere out-of-view 'abstract' behaviors can be largely designed to not conflict and resolve interactions in a much more simplistic way. --- --- --- MMORPG NEW Hazard - Slippery Sewage : Very embarrassing to slip on feces and fall on your ass right into it. Needles everywhere - catch a disease from all those used injection items covering the floors (and watch out for booby traps made from them too -- note also - a bucket of feces over the door is a warning from Splicers to go away ). This in emulation of the ruined city of San Francisco, which the bums have been allowed to take over, and have left their feces and needles (and themselves lying about on the sidewalks) everywhere for ordinary folk to enjoy. --- --- --- MMORPG Needs some of Those Driving Obstacle Course Type Missions Like They Had in GTA : They were some of the most fun because you had to react quickly and couldn't finess the action (Unfortunately in GTA San Andreas/LA Noire it was utterly stupid of the game makers having once you finished (Passed) those missions (in the story arc) you could NOT later go back to do them again.) Vehicles on Rapture : * Subs (not Bathyspheres as the Cableways tracks/routes make them a bit to reliable) * Golf cart * the Great AE Robbery * Motorized Bikes (Bicycles) * Simply On Foot (difficult terrain - probably will exercise the AI as its not so much 'on a track') * Trolley Chase (Ryan's war wagon) - sounds more like a "gun run" type situation * Climbing Ruins (competing against time can be good with noone shooting at you) Equipment assisted situations for higher difficulty. Note that these 'chase' situations can't interfere or be interfered-with by other Players, so would largely need to be run in Server Bubbles - The prop NPCs involved in these type of missions are usually carefully choreographed (scripted - especially their dialogue) and you (the game) cannot rely on AI to quickly adapt to a less controlled interactive situation. As usual for this MMORPG with Player Created Assets Missions, there could be Contests for creating new scenarios which could constantly provide New (and Interesting) content for Players to enjoy running through (with an ever increasing mass of them AND existing ones being subject to incremental improvements). Such 'Chase' Missions CAN take place in Flashback sequences, opening up the vehicles and situations to ANY TIME in Rapture's history. Many players might do the scenarios of the challenge while others might do it for some Prize (but lets not let it become a 'cash cow' (easy way) to get repeated Goodies once mastered. --- --- --- The Richer in Detail the Game is, the More Players have "What the #$%^ Just Happened??" Moments : * Not a bad thing as long as the Player isn't struck dead instantly by it. * More things/items/effects/animations Players have never seen previously (new ones/variations being added all the time is the intention of the 'Player Asset Creation Community"). * More odd things happening - something new constantly happening singly or interactions of entire scenes, players learn to expect the unexpected and to 'handle' such. * This NOT counting all kinds of realistic obscuration of various things (things looming out of the dark...) * Bad - If for lotsa neat effects (which creators put sweat into making) the Player was looking the other way - may need some kind of cueing system to 'help' the Player not miss significant things (Choreographed Quests obviously, but how to do it for Sandbox situations ?) --- --- --- 'One Reason for the Game to be One Character Per Paying Account : ' Immersion without becoming Schizo over the more-detailed/complicated character attributes (with even multitudes more skill abilities to try to remember you have) and game situational complexity. (If you have more than one character its is far harder to remember character specifics). Responsibility - No Jeckle and Hyde sets of characters that prop-up/fund the bad behavior of the their other 'troublemaker' character (constant 'punishment'/consequences will cripple characters advancement - so no "insta-killers" possible in THESE game mechanicsI've seen some MMORPG games largely ruined because the game company did NOT bother to fix easy loopholes that made bad behavior VERY EASY TO ABUSE - Stupid/Moronic on their part because of the numbers of players that quit over many years time - over THIS issue.Problematic players will get stuck cleaning out sewers til they quit or wise up). If you behave like you are a sociopath, you are treated like a sociopath (in MMOPPG Rapture)... The possible 'Griefer' impact on other Players will be minimized/eliminated. Players will be inventive (as always), but they wont be given any opportunities to ruin the game for others. --- --- --- --- --- . .